Converter handling vehicle

ABSTRACT

A converter handling vehicle adapted to lower or raise a converter and to transport the converter in any direction along the ground. The vehicle comprises bogie trucks on each side of the vehicle, a pair of levers on each side of the vehicle, the arms intersecting and being pivotally connected to a point between the ends of the levers, the lower ends being connected to the bogie trucks, a converter holding member that is pivotally connected to the upper ends of the levers, hydraulic cylinders and piston rods connected to the levers to raise or lower the converter, a support plate rotatably mounted under the holding member to support the vehicle and the converter when the direction of travel is to be changed, and a driver to cause the converter and the vehicle to rotate about the support member to change directions when the support member supports the weight of the vehicle and converter.

United States Patent [1 1 [111 3,715,101 Puhringer 1 Feb. 6, 1973 i541 CONVERTER HANDLING VEHICLE FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Inventor: Olhmar Puhringer, Linz. Austria 249,505 8/1927 Great Britain ..2s4 s7 [73] Assignaez e n gt Osterreichische Eisen-und 413,981 5/1925 Germany ..254/87 Stahlwertze Aktlengesellschaft, Lmz, Primary Examiner otheu M Simpson Ausma Att0rney-Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue & Raymond [22] Filed: March 8, 1971 T C v 57 ABS RA T [2]] App]. No.: 121,991 I 1 A converter handling vehicle adapted to lower or raise a converter and to transport the converter in any Forelg" Apphcatlon Pnonty Data direction along the ground. The vehicle comprises Oct. 14, 1970 Austria ..A 9254/70 bogie trucks each Side the Vehicle, l of levers on each side of the vehicle, the arms intersect- [52] U S Cl 254/87 254/9 R 254/122 ing and being pivotally connected to a point between 105/157 214/1 the ends of the levers, the lower ends being connected 5 I t Cl B605 9/14 B60 1/48 1566f 3/22 to the bogie trucks, a converter holding member that 58 254/9 R g B 9 87 122 is pivotally connected to the upper ends of the levers, 1 Y fgf 266713 1 212/1 hydraulic cylinders and piston :rods connected to the levers to raise or lower the converter, a support plate rotatably mounted under the holding member to sup- [56] References cued port the vehicle and the converter when the direction UNITED STATES PATENTS of travel is to be changed, and a driver to cause the I converter and the vehicle to rotate about the support 260,191 6/1882 Gould et al ..254/87 member to change directions when the support 3, 8/1968 ShOiChi R 7 member supports the weight of the vehicle and' con- 3,472,488 10/1969 Naughton ..254/122 verten 3,593,859 7/l97l Spannlang ..l05/l57 R 3,362,700 1/1968 Metz ct al ..66/35 9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEB 6 ms SHEET 2 OF 3 FIG? H3) 9(ll) 90 32(34) IN VE N TOR. y WWW/NEH Gm, wwd

his ATTURNEYS PATENTEDFEB 6 I975 3,715,101

SHEET 30? 3 FIG.3

INVENTOR. UTHNAR PUHlP/NGEI? (ELM,

his AUURNHJ CONVERTER HANDLING VEHICLE The invention relates to a converter handling vehicle for mounting and dismounting a converter in a converter stand and for transporting a converter between two or more converter stands and more particularly to a vehicle capable of rotating with the converter about a vertical axis of a support member holding the vehicle and converter to change the direction of travel.

Converter handling vehicles are used for transporting converters from the blowing stand to the lining stand when they have to be re-lined. When the converter is being re-lined, a newly lined converter is installed in the blowing stand so as to avoid any considerable delay in the steel production.

A converter handling vehicle has several requirements The vehicle must have the capacity for receiving and transporting converters with a weight of up to about 1000 metric tons. The lifting height of the vehicle should be as great as possible, optimumly exceeding 1.5 m. Also, it should be possible to move the converter horizontally with the vehicle when the converter is in its highest lifted position. Furthermore, the vehicle must be capable of changing its direction of travel by 90 at a track intersection without the help of complicated transposition or rotating devices, such as turning platforms. Additionally, the lifting apparatus should be as simple as possible and also eliminate the danger of edging or jamming. Finally, the total weight of the converter handling vehicle should be as small as possible.

Known converter handling vehicles do not fully meet these requirements. Far example, in the German printed application No. 1,186,481 a construction has been proposed that requires the lifting vehicle proper and a receiving vehicle to change directions attrack intersections, the receiving vehicle being provided with a carrying frame open on one side, into which the refining vessel is driven by the lifting vehicle.

A rail-bound vehicle comprising an upper vehicle and a lower vehicle has become known from the German Pat. specification No. 505,432, which, however, was developed for various loads but not for the transportationof refining vessels. ln this rail-bound vehicle, whose upper vehicle may be lifted by means of lifting devices, the total travelling mechanism is slewable rotatable around a trunnion arranged in the middle of the upper car. The vehicle may be transposed at track intersections by any desired angle; however, it is unsuitable for the transportation of refining vessels because the load to be received would be too heavy for the trunnion arranged in the center and forming the connection between the travelling mechanism and the upper car. In a vehicle which is to be suitable for the transportation of refining vessels provisions have to be made so as to guarantee that the highest permissible wheel pressures are not exceeded and any rail unevenessisoffset.

Finally, further converter handling vehicles which are composed of several parts have become known from the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,312,554 and 3,396,674, Austrian Pat. specification No. 249,717, British Pat. specification No. 1,075,479, the U.S. Pat. No. 3,362,700 and Canadian Pat. specification No. 794,627. In the construction according to the Austrian Pat. specification the lifting vehicle comprises a frame supportable on the floor by means of lifting devices,

which frame is liftable and loweralble in the supported position, and a travelling mechanism which is arranged in the frame to be horizontally rotatable and provided with the converter bearing structure.

The construction according to the U.S. Patents are also provided with a frame which is supportable on the floor and in its supported position liftable and lowerable, in whose corners bogies are arranged, adapted to be rotatable around vertical axes. ln these constructions two groups of hydraulic lifting means are provided, i.e'. hydraulic rams which are extensible in downward direction for lifting the frame, and further hydraulic rams which are extensible in upward direction and destined for lifting and lowering the converter. Obviously, these constructions have to be rather complicated and heavy. Furthermore there is the danger of edging when theconverter is lifted. A further essential disadvantage of the known constructions resides in that the piston stroke of the hydraulic lifting means has to correspond to the full lifting path of the converter bearing structure.

The invention is aimed at avoiding the described disadvantages and at creating a simple and not too heavy construction with which the requirements listed above are fulfilled.

Thus, in a converter handling vehicle of the kind defined in the introduction the invention resides in that the converter bearing structure is arranged in a lifting and travelling mechanism comprising bogie trucks, which mechanism comprises at least two levers which are pivoted on a common horizontal pin to form an X shaped arrangement, hereinafter referred to as a lazy tong section, each of the levers being articulately connected at one end with one of the bogie trucks and at the other end with the converter bearing structure, the opening width of the lazy tong section being adjustable by adjusting means for lifting and lowering the converter and for lifting and lowering the bogie trucks from or onto the floor, respectively.

Preferably, the converter bearing structure is rotatably connected with a supporting plate for supporting the vehicle on the floor.

Preferably,,the levers forming at least one pair of lazy tong sections are furthermore linked to the converter bearing structure by means of guiding levers.

The adjusting means for actuating at least one pair of lazy tong sections suitably comprise hydraulic cylinders, which cylinders or the piston rods thereof, respectively, are linked to the levers. Advantageously, the piston rods are linked to the shears-levers by means of straps.

For guiding the converter bearing structure suitably linkage rods are articulated to the levers.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that for the formation of two pairs of lazy tong sections four levers are provided, the vertical plane of symmetry laid through a pair of levers coinciding with the vertical plane of symmetry laid through the appurtenant bogie trucks.

Preferably, each lever comprises two parts which are arranged in parallel and laterally spaced from each other and the adjusting device :is arranged between these parts.

For rotating the lifting and travelling mechanism in the supported position a pinion arranged on the converter bearing structure and capable of being driven is provided which meshes with a gear annulus fixed to the supporting plate.

A number of advantages are gained by this vehicle: it has a high load bearing capacity, the lifting height of the vehicle is great, the convertenmay be transported in its highest lifted position, and transposed at track intersections by 90. The construction of the lifting means is simple and the total weight of the vehicle is reduced by 35 percent as compared to known structures.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood an embodiment thereof shall now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a lateral view of a converter handling vehicle showing the converter bearing structure in lifted position.

In FIG. 2 the converter handling vehicle is shown partly in section when the converter bearing structure is in lowered position, the second being laid along line IIII of FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the converter handling vehicle.

FIG. 4 shows the converter handling vehicle in. a front view partly in a section laid along line IV-IV of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a lateral view of the converter handling vehicle at the moment the vehicle changes directions at a track intersection, i.e. when the bogies are lifted from the rails.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 numerals 1, 2, 3, 4 denote bogie trucks, each comprising two bogies 5 with wheels 6; the wheels 6 may be driven my means of oil-hydraulic motors 7 (FIG. 3). drivers cab 8 houses a Diesel engine not shown with all hydraulic and control devices necessary for the lifting and lowering movement and for displacing the converter handling vehicle.

Levers 9, 10, 11 and 12 are linked to each of the bogie trucks 1, 2, 3 and, 4 respectively; these levers are articulately connected in pairs by pins 13, 14 and thus form two lazy tong sections; one lazy tong section connected with the bogie trucks 1, 2 is formed by the levers 9, and the other lazy tong section connected with the bogie trucks 3, 4 is formed by the levers 11, 12. The levers 9, 10 are articulately connected with the bogie trucks 1, 2 by means of pins 15, 16 and the levers 11, 12 are articulately connected with the bogie trucks 3, 4 by means of pins 17, 18. Numerals 19, 20, 21, 22 denote further pins by which the levers 9, 10, 11, 12 are articulately connected with guiding levers 23, 24, 25, 26. By means of pins 27, 28, 29, 30 the guiding levers 23, 24, 25, 26 are connected with a converter bearing structure which is designed as a tub-shaped carrying frame generally denoted with 31. The bogie trucks 1, 2, 3, 4, the levers 9, 10, ll, 12 and the guiding levers 23, 24, 25, 26 form a lifting and travelling mechanism denoted generally with H for the converter bearing structure 31.

By closing and opening the two lazy tong sections the converter bearing structure with the converter may be lifted or lowered; the opening width of the lazy tong sections is adjustable by means of adjusting devices 32, 33, 3.4, 35 comprising hydraulic cylinders 36, 37, 38, 39 with piston rods 40, 41, 42, 43. The cylinders 36,37

are articulately connected with the levers 9, 10 of one lazy tong section by pins 44, 45. The upper ends of the piston rods 40, 41 are articulately connected by pins 48, 49 to straps 52, 53 which are linked to the levers 9, 10 by means of pins 55, 56. Analogous conditions apply to the adjusting devices 34, 35 of the other lazy tong section; their cylinders 38, 39 are articulately connected to the levers 11, 12 by pins 46, 47, and their piston rods 42, 43 are articulately connected to the levers 11, 12 by pins 50, 51, straps 54, 53a and further pins 57, 58.

Numerals 59, 60, 61, 62 denote linkage rods which are articulately connected with each other by means of pins 63, 64, and by means of pins 20, 65 with the levers 9, 10 of one lazy tong section and by pins 22, 66 with the levers 11, 12 of the other lazy tong section. These linkage rods 59, 60, 61, 62 guarantee that the converter bearing structure 31 during the lifting and lowering movement always remains in horizontal position and undergoes a parallel displacement.

The converter receiving construction 31 is provided at its upper side with an adjusting platform 68 which is displaceable on sliding plates 67 horizontally and perpendicularly to the direction of travel; the platform serves for receiving the converter denoted with T, the contourof which is illustrated in dash-dot lines in FIGS. 1 and 2. A supporting plate 70 is mounted on the bottom side of the converter bearing structure 31 by means of a rotatory connection 69 which may be designed e.g. as a ball bearing. The converter bearing structure 31 is provided with longitudinal carriers 71, 72 (FIG. 3) which are designed to be tub-shaped, like a broad U for example, and are rigidly connected with each other by means of transverse carriers 73, 74 and further tube-shaped transverse carriers 75, 76. On each of the longitudinal carriers 71, 72 a hydraulically operable adjusting device 77, 78 is arranged serving for displacing the adjustment platform 68 perpendicularly to the direction of travel (see also FIG. 4). Numeral 79 generally denotes a driving means fixed to the bottom side of the converter bearing structure 31, which driving means comprises a pinion 80 which meshes with a gear annulus 81 rigidly connected with the supporting plate 70.

Details of the'two lazy tong sections will equally become evident from FIG. 3: the levers 9, 10, 11, 12 are designed in two parts; their parts are denoted with 82, 83 and 84, 85 respectively, and designed to be staggered so that each pair of levers 9, 10 and 11, 12, respectively, forming one lazy tong section, is provided with a common vertical plane of symmetry. Also the appurtenant guiding levers 23, 24 and 25, 26 are designed in two parts; their parts are denoted with 86, 87. Numerals 88, 89 denote the parts of the straps 52 53, 53a and 54 which are likewise designed in two parts. As shown in FIG. 3, the adjustment devices 3 2 to 35 are arranged between the parts 82, 83 and 84, 85, respectively, of the levers 9, 11 and 10, 12, respectively. Thus a particularly advantageous flow of action is obtained because the vertical planes of symmetry laid through the lazy tong sections coincide with the vertical planes of symmetry laid through the respective bogie trucks.

The transposition by 90 of the converter handling vehicle at track intersections is illustrated in FIGS. 4

and 5: when the adjustment devices 32, 33, 34, 35 are actuated, the lazy tong sections are first opened until the supporting plate 70 engages the floor 90; by further opening of the lazy tong sections the bogie trucks 1 to 4 are lifted with their bogies 5 so that the wheels 6 get out of engagement with the rails 91. in this position the driving means 79 is actuated so that the pinion 80 rolls around the gear annulus 81 and the vehicle is rotated around its vertical central axis by 90. Then the lazy tong sections are closed again and the wheels 6 engage with rails which extend at right angles to the rails 91.

The normal position of the converter handling vehicle during its travel is illustrated in FIG. 2. When a converter is to be mounted into or dismounted from the converter stand, the lazy tong sections are closed until the converter has reached the necessary height (FIG. 1).

Obviously, also other embodiments of the invention are feasible in which levers forming lazy tong sections are used for the lifting and lowering movement of the converter bearing structure. Thus, it is possible to provide only two levers forming a single lazy tong section, the vertical plane of which coincides with a vertical plane laid through the longitudinal axis of the converter handling vehicle, each lever being linked to a pair of bogie trucks. Furthermore, it is not absolutely necessary to design each lever in two parts; it is also possible to provide at both sides of the converter handling vehicle levers consisting of one part and being sturdily dimensioned. V

The connection of the pistonrods 40, 41, 42, 43 with the straps 52, 53, 54, 55 has the advantage that a very low construction height of the vehicle is obtained. Evidently the piston rods might also be directly connected with the levers 9, l0, ll, 12.

The essential advantage of the construction according to the invention lies in the functionally advantageous stress on the hydraulic adjustment devices 32 to 35 which, while they have to be charged with a very high pressure, require a comparatively small stroke in relation to the lifting movement of the converter bearing structure 31; these adjustment devices are exposed exclusively to pressure stresses so that no excessive safety allowance is necessary in their dimensioning because they are kept absolutely free from bending forces. The adjustment devices do not serve for guiding the load as this is the case with known converter handling vehicles in which furthermore lifting devices are necessary whose piston stroke corresponds to the lifting path of the converter bearing structure, which is disadvantageous and materially increases the manufacturing costs.

The levers may be produced from simple, relatively cheap steel construction parts, so that a low total weight is achieved; calculations for a special case have shown that under otherwise equal conditions calculated with the same safety allowances a converter handling vehicle according to the system described in the Austrian Pat. specification No. 249,719, British Pat. specification No. 1,075,479, U.S. Pat. No. 3,362,700 and the Canadian Pat. specification No. 794,627 referred to in the introduction weighs 390 m.t., while the weight of a converter handling vehicle according to the invention amounts only to 250 m.t.;

the weight reduction thus amounts to about 35 percent.

What I claim is: l. A converter handling vehicle adapted to move a converter in the vertical direction and to transport the converter in any horizontal direction along the ground comprising bogie trucks that travel along the ground, at least a pair of levers, the levers intersecting each other at a point between the ends of the levers in a generally vertical plane and pivotally joined at the intersection, an end of each of the levers further being pivotally connected to the bogie trucks, a converter holding member, the converter holding member being connected to the other ends of the levers, adjustment means connecting the lower end of one lever to the upper end of the other lever to cause the levers to rotate about the intersection and thereby lift or lower the converter, supporting means rotatively affixed to the bottom of the converter holding member to contact the ground to support the vehicle and converter when the adjustment means causes the lbogie trucks to move away from the ground, rotating means for rotating the vehicle and converter about a vertical axis relative to the supporting means whereby the vehicle changes the direction of travel on the ground.

2. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising at least two guiding levers, the guiding levers pivotally connecting the one end of each of the levers to the converter holding member.

3. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment means comprise hydraulic cylinders and extensible piston rods which are connected to the levers. v

4. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 3 wherein the piston rods are connected to the levers by straps. 1

5. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 1 further comprising guiding means connecting the levers to ensure the converter holding member is horizontal when the converter is lifted or lowered.

6. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 1 wherein two pairs of levers are provided, one pair of levers being positioned on each side of the vehicle, the vertical plane of symmetry of each pair of levers substantially coinciding with the vertical plane of symmetry of the bogie trucks on that side of the vehicle.

7. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 1, wherein each lever comprises two parts which are arranged substantially parallel to and spaced from each other, the adjusting means being positioned between the two parts. a

8. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 1 further comprising a pinion mounted on the converter holding member, means to drive the pinion when the supporting means supports the vehicle and converter on the ground, and a gear annulus connected to the supporting means, the annulus meshing with the pinion whereby the vehicle may change direction of travel.

9. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 1 further comprising an adjustment platform adjacent to the converter holding member and adapted to support the converter, and means for laterally adjusting the adjustment platform relative to the converter handling vehicle and the converter holding member.

2 33 TED STATES EPA'EENT OFFICE v CETWIQATE 0E5 CRETION Patent'No. 3,715,101- Dated Feb. 6, 1973 Inventofls) Othmar Puhringer Q It is certified th at: errof appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

First page, Item [73}, "Stahlwertze" should be -StahlwerKe-;

001..1 line -L6,delete "slewable"; line 64, delete "the"; Col. 3 line &1," after "4" insert a comma; and I cold 5 line 60, "#249,719" should be "249,717";

Signed and sealed this 10th day of July 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. Rene Tegtmeyer Attesting Officer Acting Commissioner of Patents 

1. A converter handling vehicle adapted to move a converter in the vertical direction and to transport the converter in any horizontal direction along the ground comprising bogie trucks that travel along the ground, at least a pair of levers, the levers intersecting each other at a point between the ends of the levers in a generally vertical plane and pivotally joined at the intersection, an end of each of the levers further being pivotally connected to the bogie trucks, a converter holding member, the converter holding member being connected to the other ends of the levers, adjustment means connecting the lower end of one lever to the upper end of the other lever to cause the levers to rotate about the intersection and thereby lift or lower the converter, supporting means rotatively affixed to the bottom of the converter holding member to contact the ground to support the vehicle and converter when the adjustment means causes the bogie trucks to move away from the ground, rotating means for rotating the vehicle and converter about a vertical axis relative to the supporting means whereby the vehicle changes the direction of travel on the ground.
 1. A converter handling vehicle adapted to move a converter in the vertical direction and to transport the converter in any horizontal direction along the ground comprising bogie trucks that travel along the ground, at least a pair of levers, the levers intersecting each other at a point between the ends of the levers in a generally vertical plane and pivotally joined at the intersection, an end of each of the levers further being pivotally connected to the bogie trucks, a converter holding member, the converter holding member being connected to the other ends of the levers, adjustment means connecting the lower end of one lever to the upper end of the other lever to cause the levers to rotate about the intersection and thereby lift or lower the converter, supporting means rotatively affixed to the bottom of the converter holding member to contact the ground to support the vehicle and converter when the adjustment means causes the bogie trucks to move away from the ground, rotating means for rotating the vehicle and converter about a vertical axis relative to the supporting means whereby the vehicle changes the direction of travel on the ground.
 2. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising at least two guiding levers, the guiding levers pivotally connecting the one end of each of the levers to the converter holding member.
 3. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment means comprise hydraulic cylinders and extensible piston rods which are connected to the levers.
 4. The coNverter handling vehicle according to claim 3 wherein the piston rods are connected to the levers by straps.
 5. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 1 further comprising guiding means connecting the levers to ensure the converter holding member is horizontal when the converter is lifted or lowered.
 6. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 1 wherein two pairs of levers are provided, one pair of levers being positioned on each side of the vehicle, the vertical plane of symmetry of each pair of levers substantially coinciding with the vertical plane of symmetry of the bogie trucks on that side of the vehicle.
 7. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 1, wherein each lever comprises two parts which are arranged substantially parallel to and spaced from each other, the adjusting means being positioned between the two parts.
 8. The converter handling vehicle according to claim 1 further comprising a pinion mounted on the converter holding member, means to drive the pinion when the supporting means supports the vehicle and converter on the ground, and a gear annulus connected to the supporting means, the annulus meshing with the pinion whereby the vehicle may change direction of travel. 